Clubbing Highlights – February 2012
You’ll have to be sharp about it but Xplicit have their 7th birthday in the Bongo Club on Fri 3 Feb with drum and bass supremo Andy C, recently voted Mixmag’s 7th best DJ in the world and Drum and Bass Arena’s best DJ of 2011. With MC GQ supporting along with the full roster of Xplicit’s residents, an upstairs hosted by I Love Hip Hop and a full six hours of gloriously kinetic beats to get into this is not one you’ll want to let pass by you.
Trouble relaunch their Devil Disco Club where bands and DJs collide on Fri 10 Feb at Edinburgh's The Third Door with official local heroes Discopolis playing live before things get slightly more loose as Trouble DJs Hobbes and D’Viking take the reigns to drop a swarm of disco, electro funk and neon Italo. With added support from Battle of the Zoo (that explains how those pandas got their black eyes) this is a strong comeback for the night and an ideal weekend starting agenda. Hot Mess have another dance party lined up on 10 Feb at the Wee Red Bar which combines some ridiculously danceable electronic classics and some more leftfield choices played by Simonotron all compressed into a capacity of 150 souls and entry gets you into the earlier Pussy Whipped which is about enough suggestive titles for one sentence.
Over in Glasgow, on Sat 4 Feb The Admiral will be hosting New York’s Colleen Murphy, aka Cosmo, who has nothing to do with the 70s football team but everything to do with that city’s devotion to club music of an unparalleled quality. Having played regularly at the The Loft and Deep Space, Cosmo relocated to London to further promote those ideals at London Loft and her relentlessly eclectic label Bitches Brew; but it will be her experience behind the decks that will make all the difference on the night.
After stoking up the NME Tour on Wed 8 Feb indie/dance crossover Metronomy will head to the Sub Club to spin other people's records which than means you can catch them and still effortlessly pretend that you grew out of NME’s kind of music years ago. Joseph Mount, the man who launched the band from his back bedroom, has already turned Metronomy into a full-on festival band, remixed the hell out of plenty of big names requiring a dusting of electro and, of course, he can DJ too. Sub Club have also lined up the excellent DJ and utterly prolific producer Tom Trago for 18 Feb. He's been bouncing out records for the last few years as part of the Amsterdam New School, which relies on a lot of Detroit/Amsterdam crossover, and has been a key influence across the water for a while now. Last year’s Iris album featured his beautiful, sparkling production set over some heavy beat propulsion – this is an excellent chance to catch him doing it live.
Musika have been making The Liquid Room a destination for some huge DJs for five years now and, true to form, this month they're at it again. On Sat 4 Feb it will be Cassy making her Edinburgh debut and the London-born DJ who cut her music teeth in Vienna and Geneva has earned her status within the Cocoon collective as one of the premier house/techno party DJs on the international circuit with her soulful and deeply minimal house. Special mention also to the support Tim Green whose driving beats are just something else to behold.
Oh, and in true ‘anti-everything’ mode we pay our respects to St Valentine and all that by recommending the Voodoo Rooms' She-Bang Anti-Valentine's Party on Sat 11 Feb where you can wallow in your hatred for everything that day has become. Just try not to meet anyone there that you might actually have designs upon...